Quilts UK and Sewing Quarter

I am back from this year's Quilts UK in Malvern. This four-day show is set in the beautiful Worcestershire countryside in Malvern and is the second largest quilt show in the UK after the Festival of Quilts. My week started with a four-hour drive on my tod across the country, this is the furthest I had driven on my own ever, so I was pretty pleased with myself when I finally got there!  Then I had to set up the stand, I was really close to my old employers, Doughty's - most of the time they were laughing at me, but they did help when it was needed. 

Doing Quilts UK also means I get to return to Hereford where I stay with Ruth, Mrs Doughty, over the show. It's always lovely to catch up and we have a good old chat, she also knew the short cuts on the way back to Malvern the following morning. On Friday, I had help on the stand from the lovely Sarah, another former Doughty worker who just comes for a laugh, and then Justin arrived Friday night, so thankfully I didn't have to drive home!

I had a lot of fun meeting so many familiar faces, including many fellow Sewing Quarter presenters. I also had some lovely viewers come up to tell me how much they enjoy my shows, which was really sweet of them, it's great to know the nerves don't show and my demos make sense haha! 

Now I'm back home, I feel pretty shattered, it's weird, it's like I'm jet lagged, hopefully a few days off next week will sort me out. Before then however, I'm back on Sewing Quarter on Bank Holiday Monday where I will be demoing this foundation-pieced Garden Paths quilt by Linda Clements, and then my own Wonky Squares wall hanging using jelly roll strips and some quick and easy cutting.

Wishing you all a happy and creative week, linking up with Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Month Four of the Mystery Quilt

Where is this year going!?!? I can't believe it's May and nearly time for Quilts UK at Malvern.  As you can imagine, I've being extremely busy cutting, folding and making up kits for this upcoming 4-day show - I'm also working on some new kits which will have their debut at the show.

Inbetween all this I have been on Sewing Quarter again, this time demoing a lovely summery quilt from the Big Book of Lap Quilts. This was a joy to make and the large flying geese blocks came together so quickly. In contrast, my second project was Lynne Edwards' Cathedral Windows table runner, which featured both machine and hand sewing, so it was nice to get back to some hand work.

You can catch these shows on Sewing Quarter's YouTube channel here, and you can see links to all my past SQ shows here.

The beginning of another month can only mean one thing, it's time for the next instalment of my block-of-the-month mystery quilt. This Birds of a Feather quilt is free to my Newsletter subscribers, and features half-square triangles, a little foundation piecing and some simple patchwork. If you would like to join us you can sign up here, and you will receive the latest Newsletter with links to previous months so you can catch up with the BOM.

Last week saw the release of a new EPP Flower Cushion kit, this time in this cute Red House Liberty print. This kit is a great introduction to curved English paper-piecing as the pieces are quite large and not too fiddly. And of course, you also have my four-part youTube tutorial to help you on your way. You can find out more about this new EPP kit here.

Wishing you all a fun and creative week, linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday

Stunning Scotland and an Easter Sale

It has recently dawned on us that having lived so far north of the UK for a few years now, we had still not ventured into our neighbouring country, Scotland, and decided it was about time we did! As my husband can never just go to one place, he set about planning us a mini tour starting in Stirling, then up to Glencoe and the Highlands and then finally a few days in Edinburgh.

I have to say, even though we expected the landscape to be as beautiful as you see in the films, seeing it in real life really does take your breath away!

We even drove up to the bottom point of Loch Ness to see if we could spot the shy creature, alas, Nessy was keeping well and truly hidden that day :) The loch was stunning though.

Justin found the wonderful Lochleven Seafood Cafe down a wiggly road alongside the nearby loch where we had some amazing local seafood, I wasn't too sure about the razor clams to be honest but the langoustines were gorgeous!

We then headed back down to Edinburgh where we dumped the car (I highly recommend the city's Park & Ride scheme, the buses are frequent, and you don't have to worry about parking in a busy city) We stayed at the Brooks Hotel, a very nice and comfy boutique hotel where we had an afternoon tea and bottle of fizz included in the deal - not a bad start eh!?

We like to amble on our city breaks, and Edinburgh is such a beautiful city, you don't realise you're walking up and down so many hills! We made our way to Dovecot Studios to see the much anticipated Orla Kiely exhibition...

I have always loved Orla's strong and colourful graphic design, and with all those curved shapes as inspiration, I can't wait to start designing some more Hoop Art and cushion EPP projects! And just look at that stitching on the red bag, totally love it!! Dovecot Studios is also home to the Tapestry Studio where you can see artists in residence working on their extraordinary pieces of art. There is also a very interesting exhibit on the rescue and refurbishment of these former swimming baths.

Our visit to Edinburgh couldn't be complete without a visit to My Bear Paw to see the very lovely Jo Avery. The shop is normally closed on a Tuesday but luckily Jo was teaching an evening class so we managed to have a quick cuppa and chat before her ladies arrived. My Bear Paw is such a cute shop and you must go if you're in town, Jo's also going to stock some more of my kits, which is great news!

Talking of kits, back at Sewmotion HQ, I'm holding my annual Easter Sale with up to 20% off in the online shop. This is a great opportunity to grab that kit you may have had your eye on for a while, or maybe try a new technique with one of my cushion or hoop kits, or maybe you just need to stock up on your EPP essentials. No code needed - you can visit the shop here.

Wishing you all a peaceful and creative week, linking up with Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers and Needle & Thread Thursday.